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It’s important to note that my Amazon dilemma is particularly potent because I used to have a firm belief that the next book I bought had to be in-store. This was, in part, inspired by Fran Lebowitz (someone I both love and fear), who says you have to touch a book in person to truly decide on it.
But as I continued to shop in-store for my books in East London, I found that a type of hyper-curation takes place. Many bookstores, whether chains or independent, carry the same selection. This makes sense, as stores need to invest in books that are more likely to sell, but it also means shoppers are led into a quasi-algorithmic experience of book shopping. To find more niche titles, you almost always have to turn to online sources (see above). To find a happy medium, I’ve started using the resale site World of Books. You can find pretty much anything and everything there. and always at a discount
Sep 18, 2024
Related Recs
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📖For all my reading needs. If I'm not at some old bookstore browsing the shelves picking up something that looks interesting, I'm buying specific books I want on betterworldbooks. They donate a book for every book you buy and help libraries and educational nonprofits through literacy grants. Now, instead of buying that book you've been eyeing on amazon, you can find it here, new or used, for a better price and peace of mind.
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📚Ok, this is a more obscure rec but bear with me. I recently started spending weekend days strolling into a new used book store in the Lower East Side called Sweet Pickle Books. The store has become a comforting place to make a quick cheap purchase for me, and also my go-to store for presents. Every time I go in there I find myself picking up books with the coolest names or covers and just buying them hoping I’ll like them. I’m currently reading J.G. Ballard’s Super-Cannes which I probably would have never even known about had I not stumbled upon it and thought the cover looked cool. I suggest this method for branching out from your usual genres or authors.
Mar 16, 2021
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📚I stopped buying books from Amazon (unless I’m trying to pad out an order to get free shipping) and now pretty much exclusively shop at Waterstones because I got a Waterstones card. BUT! I love love love independent book stores and shop there wherever possible. My favourites to visit are Backstory in Balham and Upper Street Books in Islington. You can feel the individual love and care put into the displays and selections.
Sep 10, 2024
Top Recs from @bval
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😃Everyone is busy. Everyone is booked up. It has become to new norm to fill my Google Calendar with dinner plans and late-night events, fully scheduled two to three weeks in advance. Resisting this adult timetable, drop-in culture still exists with a bit more brute force, it's texting beloved besties that I'm around the corner—can I come over for a coffee or a chat?—then breezing through on to my errand of the day or whatever else I have going on.
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😃In university, I needed a really strict environmental setup to even think about starting an essay. I needed my water bottle, a good table in the library, enough sleep, and a full belly. The library had to be quiet, and in more extreme cases, I even brought earplugs.
Lately, during my lunch hour at my nine-to-five job, I've been using the time to write, often tucked away or sitting on the floor around the office. I tap away at whatever I can get down, to later return to and edit. I have to take these stolen moments. I'm too hazy in the morning to write, and too tired of looking at screens in the evening. Weekends are often sacred for friends and rest. I think, for many of us, the new habit of writing won’t be glorious, long-haul manic frenzies. It’ll be about taking sips here and there, getting down on the page whatever we can.
Lately, during my lunch hour at my nine-to-five job, I've been using the time to write, often tucked away or sitting on the floor around the office. I tap away at whatever I can get down, to later return to and edit. I have to take these stolen moments. I'm too hazy in the morning to write, and too tired of looking at screens in the evening. Weekends are often sacred for friends and rest. I think, for many of us, the new habit of writing won’t be glorious, long-haul manic frenzies. It’ll be about taking sips here and there, getting down on the page whatever we can.
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😃This book was insanely hard for me to get my hands on. It is the first and last book I bought off Amazon was one by Durga Chew-Bose, a fellow Canadian who made me feel a little less homesick amidst UK living. Her style of writing reminds me of the dinner conversations I have with my sisters. The pages kept me company as I sat outside on the ground, locked out of my house. The fastest five hours of my life
Sep 18, 2024